Liquid natural gas (LNG) tankers use insulated gas containers that cool the gas to minus 163 °C. Explosion protection is a requirement for all electrical equipment, due to the flammable properties of the gas. Intrinsically safe Remote I/O from Pepperl+Fuchs is used to interface the sensors and actuators in hazardous areas with the control system in the safe area.

The Remote I/O system is proven in use in thousands of onshore applications. It now meets marine requirements. Environmental tests, vibration tests, and additional EMC tests ensure that Remote I/O will operate on marine vessels. Bureau Veritas, DNV, and ABS are the marine approval authorities for this type of equipment.

The Remote I/O is mounted in standard Ex-approved enclosures allowing access to the modules as needed. Remote I/O helps to reduce installation costs by saving space onboard the LNG tanker. Remote I/O requires fewer hardware components to interface with the control system and communicates via a standard twisted pair bus. It is also capable of driving high-power solenoids. This is particularly important for marine applications where solenoids need to withstand continuous vibration.

Remote I/Oalso permits HART communication with transmitters and valves. This gives the operator access to additional information that is normally only available via handheld communicators.